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Island of the Lost

Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World

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About this listen

Auckland Island is a godforsaken place in the middle of the Southern Ocean, 285 miles south of New Zealand. With year-round freezing rain and howling winds, it is one of the most forbidding places in the world. To be shipwrecked there means almost certain death.

In 1864, Captain Thomas Musgrave and his crew of four aboard the schooner Grafton wreck on the southern end of the island. Utterly alone in a dense coastal forest, plagued by stinging blowflies and relentless rain, Captain Musgrave inspires his men to take action. With barely more than their bare hands, they build a cabin and, remarkably, a forge where they manufacture their tools.

Incredibly, at the same time on the opposite end of the island, the Invercauld wrecks during a horrible storm. Nineteen men stagger ashore. Unlike Captain Musgrave, the captain of the Invercauld falls apart given the same dismal circumstances. His men fight and split up; some die of starvation, others turn to cannibalism. Only three survive. Musgrave and all of his men not only endure for nearly two years, but they also plan their own astonishing escape, setting off on one of the most courageous sea voyages in history.

©2007 Joan Druett (P)2016 Tantor 19th Century Adventurers, Explorers & Survival Australia, New Zealand & Oceania Modern Oceania World Leadership Survival

Critic reviews

"The amount of detail Druett has amassed is truly impressive, resulting in an invaluable account of survival." ( Booklist)
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Gripping story of a harrowing stay on a deserted shore and a testament to what humans can endure when up against it. Seals are eaten in enormous quantities when available,apart from that a spartan diet with a local vegetable root savng the men from scurvy. well narrated

Musgrave's survivors

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A very good truth-based story about the floundering of 2 ships on the same island, and the extreme differences with how the respective crews dealt with survival prior to rescue. Very interesting.

Historically accurate

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Really well narrated and written, could not stop listening to it, in fact I used to go out in the car just to put it on !

Wonderful but scary

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Good story, I was deeply surprised. Lived in the story, learned and laughed with them.

Remarkable story.

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Great stuff, throughly enjoyed the story and it was very well read. Good for long drives, would definitely recommend.

A rollicking read.

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